Yankees’ Aaron Judge wins AL Rookie of the Year award in unanimous vote

Aaron Judge is the first Yankee to win Rookie of the Year since Derek Jeter in 1996. (Seth Wenig/AP)

ORLANDO — The verdict is in and it is unanimous.

Aaron Judge is the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year, becoming the ninth Yankee to win the award, and first since Derek Jeter in 1996.

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The 25-year-old right fielder took Major League Baseball by storm in 2017, blasting a rookie-record 52 homers — three more than former record-holder Mark McGwire hit three decades ago.

"It's quite an honor," Judge said after the announcement was made on Monday night. "I'm still sitting back trying to think about what happened this first year. It's been quite a journey — from battling in spring training, to the highs and lows throughout the season, the run we had, coming up short. You dream about playing your first year in the big leagues, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was an incredible year."

Judge had to win a competition with Aaron Hicks in the spring just to earn his starting spot and avoid a demotion to the minors. He took off from there, leading all AL players in homers (52), runs (128), walks (127) and strikeouts (208). Judge finished second in the AL in RBI (114) while triple-slashing .284/.422/.627.

Aaron Judge celebrates after winning the Home Run Derby at Marlins Park. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

He sent balls into orbit at astounding distances, while also playing stellar defense and acting like an established veteran, both on and off the field. The other finalists for AL Rookie of the Year were Boston's Andrew Benintendi and Baltimore's Trey Mancini.

Other notable Baby Bombers to win Rookie of the Year honors include Jeter, Dave Righetti (1981), Thurman Munson (1970) and Tony Kubek (1957).

Judge had hit .179/.263/.345 with four homers and 42 strikeouts in an 84-at-bat cameo in 2016. But he made several adjustments in the offseason, which paid off in a big way. He also withstood a massive second-half slump and nagging shoulder issues.

Judge, who stands 6-foot-7, was selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2013 draft (No. 32 overall). He is also a finalist for the AL MVP award, which will be announced on Thursday night. He faces stiff competition from Houston's Jose Altuve for the honor.

Led the league in Rs, BBs, HRs.52 HRs = Most ever by a rookie127 BBs = Most ever by a rookieWinning the HR Derby = 1st time ever by a rookie

Judge also won the 2017 Home Run Derby and captured an AL Silver Slugger award.

Along the way, he emerged as one of the faces of baseball.

"It's a special time to be in the big leagues," Judge said. "I'm just glad to be mentioned with a lot of these great guys as faces of MLB but I'm going to go out there and continue to play my game and focusing on what I can do on the field."

Judge is already looking forward to his sophomore campaign, which he's hoping will end even better than this season, when the Yankees made it to Game 7 of the ALCS.

"We didn't accomplish our goal," Judge said. "We came up short. I think I speak for all of us in the Yankees' organization: we can't wait to get the 2018 season started."